First Person

ok every one so this is steve, i know i know, hold you applause till the end. well i have promised alot of people blogs and i just never really gave them a direct time because thats how i roll. lol. but i will try to do this chronologically. ok so bear ( grrrr) with me.

so lets start with the CITY YEAR presentation. It was amazing the amount of love and understanding we recieved. Sometimes when i do this i feel like a lab rat, but this time i felt more understood. like these were my people the mistake makers of america who are trying to still make a diffrence. the were full of great questions and just props for us doing what we were doing. it was awsome. we did 2 showing their and each one was just as cool as the next. i think because alot of them were from philly and in that age group we are in the felt like it was their story up their. i think city year is a wonderful program which has always helped kids, and is truly a youth first organization and it really helps youth understand that its not just about you in the grand scheme of life its about helping one another out.

ok so me and been got to hit the road together, as we often do. but this one was a little diffrent this was a presentation for students. and it was in mississippi, i have never been to M.S. so it was already a awsome trip to begin. so when ben told me where we were going i was like ok. we went to a school by the name of Piney Woods its a private boarding school. prodominently african american. so i am thinking a bunch of rich kids who arent gonna understand shit about where i am comming from but free money and a free trip cant beat that. Man i was in for the shock of my life. so we get there and the air just smelled different (sidenote: philly has one of the worst m-fing airports ever, every stop over we had was in a trendy modern looking airport, detroits was by far the best airport i have ever seen thanks alot milton street) so the ride to the school grounds was great the speed limit was 70mph which ws kinda fun and Mrs. Magnum was great conversation and kinda set tthe tone for the hospitality we were about to receive. so we arrive on this massive campus which we latter found out was i think 2,000 acre of land. And me and ben get the normal package of key for what we think is to a double room like we normally have, but as we open our door there was a hallway which led to to seperate rooms, omg we have never had on a trip before so we were given like 2 mins to putt our stuff in our room so we can make it to lunch which was amazing i think i had yam that were so light and fluffy it was almost like cake and juciy turkey over rice and some greens best travel meal ever. omg i had to take a quick nap when we got to our rooms after a few minutes of rest we got to take a tour of the school grounds. i have never been to a place where i was intranced by its history i wish i had more time to tell you but next to this is a direct link to the schools history from the schools website.. prepare to be amazed i also challenege you to read a little about Lawrence C. Jones, if your not intrigued to help someone you are a soulless person. ok so back to the story. So after our Piney Woods education we got to meet Dr. Reginald Nichols, who has been a huge influence to who i think i want to become along with some others ( Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr, Octavious Catto these are some of the people he is on that list with. ) but he showed us around Jackson,MS which has the potential to be the next alanta if investor and goverment work together in an effort to help the community without gentrifying the area but wouldn’t that be a perfect idea. For the first time in my life i think i truly understood what Ghandi meant when he said “be the change that you want to see in the world” riding thru jackson i seen the future or what could be in jackson. and i think i want to be apart of that. but let me finich the story. ok so we ride around jackson and he takes of to this place Jerry’s catfish, now i have never had catfish a day in my life, i am not really a fish person salmon is the extent of my fish desire. and the thought of a bottom eating fish i was kinda stand offish but i say what the hell when in rome. best decision i have ever made. all 3 of us had the all you can eat cat fish which came wit all you can eat hush puppies, french fries, and cole slaw. i dreamed of hush puppies 4 days in a row. but while we sat there i got to talk to Dr. Nichols and it was weird for me to think that someone older than me shared the same ideas about education. and not only did he share it he had a fewe models of what i always wish education should be the develpment of character, not teaching students how to take test but grooming them into being something more. OK SO I AM KINDA OF TIRED BUT I PROMISE TO FINISH TOMORROW AROUND THE SAME TIME.

SO i was at work a few days ago and this lady recognizes me from first person. it was weird at first because she thought i went to high school with her. but then it hit her like ” omg you are that sexy, adorable, polite, and cool guy from that documentry” an d i was like yes i am, she was like i would love to take you to dinnr some time. meet me on 2nd street at about seven. AND THAT THE TOTAL TRUTH.LOL, OK MAYBE PART OF IT . but it felt good to hae someone recegnize me from the dvd. i think she said she viewed he teacher recruitment dvd.. it was cool .but other than that i am moving to greensburgh,pa in october. its the emancipation of steve parr. i gotta grow up. so what better way to do that then move all alone( well with my home boy dantzler of course). as far as the ladies i am still sinngle and looking and it is getting frustrating. but i want to wiat until i move to find some one. but that all i got for now

The Education Law Center, Good Schools Pennsylvania (GSPA), and the Education Policy and Leadership Center (EPLC) are leading The Pennsylvania Education Funding Reform Campaign. This campaign will advocate for a state finance system that provides all children with the resources needed for an excellent public education. The results could lead to significant legislative changes in the inequitable funding formula the state uses now. First Person is pleased to support this effort by participating in the Campaign’s Share Your Stories effort.

Diane Dantzler (left): Joining the PIAA, we had the chance to play at Bensalem [a suburban school outside of Philadelphia.] That was like a college stadium to us, seeing as how we practice on a field that is half the size and is covered with dog feces. This is the first time the scoreboard is working all season. I’m a crossing guard in Philadelphia, and we are not funded at all. I am here every game, but its hard keeping [the kids’] morale up.

Conchetta Logan (right): I’ve written to the School District about the field [and other things], but I haven’t heard anything. These are the kids who want to do good things in terms of college, but they can’t get nothing.

Steve: My name is Steven Parr III. I am 18 and a recent graduate of Benjamin Franklin High School. I now attend the Community College of Philadelphia. I played football all four of the years I was in high school, and I always believed that my school was one of the more privileged schools in terms of funding in athletics. But that all changed when we had a game against Bensalem high school my junior year. We were excited to even have them on our roster because we had never played a “suburban” school. On the ride up we knew we were close because we started seeing less and less highway and more trees. We saw the high school and looked to our left and see the practice field. We have to walk about 10 blocks to our practice field, which is at a recreation center and only has about 60 yard of ground available. Then we get to their stadium, which is reminiscent of Franklin Field. Their home section has a built in concession stands, seats like 500 easy and has the pitted entrance/exit for the players of home and away. For us it was like staring at the Coliseum. We share a field with our rival high school. Our school is about 20 miles away from our “HOME” field. To make a long story short we were close at the half, but somehow we lost 55-12. It was a great experience but we witnessed first hand what kind of money goes into suburban schools. I believe if we had equal funding we could have the adequate facilities needed to compete at the state level of competition. I mean, Franklin doesn’t even own a tackling drive or even a good practice facility. Like any creature we adapt, but I am sure adaptation isn’t always going to cut it. We need resources. I look forward to the day that I can go to a Franklin game and sit amongst a crowd off 500 at night at their own home field, but until that day comes I will sit in the sardine packed crowd of 150 and cheer for my team.

why, this isnt supposed to happen to me, a am steven parr iii and this is supposed to be the steven parr iii show my best friend isnt suppposed to die. he was my best friend we grew up together. we ran together we did it all together. i remeber when he handcuffed me to my aunts gates when we were little kids. we fought like evry weekend it was crazy and now he is gone. and the fucked up part was i was in my doorway when i hear the shots and his cousin was on the steps acroos the street. and we both heard the shots and couldnt even fathom that its was aaron. not my man ace. cant be. this nigga was the samer age as me shit like this is for the papers. iread about this shit like. this is some boyz in the hood type shit. i just dont understand. i dont. we are the same age. we grew up together. i dont know how wo deala with no shit like this. then i had to tell his gradmother he was dead. that shit is scrazy. and all i get to do is read about him in the paper and the end of the year. just a fucking statistic. this shit is crazy nobody prep me for this type of shit. like i dont know how to deal. i am used to seeing him everyday. like i was just with him at like 6 at his girlfriends house. talking to him while he was playing fight night. today. like its is crazy. i would have never thought it would be somebody this close. i thought i was gonnna be one of the lucky ones to exscape this type of shit . like i jsut dont know why. i am steven parr iii this shit isnt supposed to happen to me. like my story is supposed to be that i messed in school a lil bit. played around andd then did well. not death. i thought that shit was supposed to be over when my grandmother died. i thought that was the last funeral i thought i wouldnt have to go to another until like never. not some my age not my best friend my age not the one person i could count on no matter what.

Ok, so yesterday i took the placement test to get in to the Community College of Philadelphia. Let me start by tellling you how the day before the test. i was stressed i was thinking that it was gonna be like the SAT. I even studied a little bit. so the day of the test i am late, becuase i wounldnt be true to my nature if i wsnt lat. i kno what your thinking, ” how could you be late to your future” but nah anh, my name is steven parr iii and i am late to pretty much everything. so yea i like was saying, i went to take the test at the assesment center. which i thought was a building. but more on that later in life. so i get in the building where we are suppose to be taking the test at and I AM LOST, i am one floor over where i am supposed to be, so thanks to this security lady. i made it only like 10 minutes late. i finnally get in teir and take the test and i think i did well. os you probally wont hear from me until the 19th when i let yall know whats happening